50 



SUCCESS WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



berry, how much more so of many of our aromatic rubies of 

 to-day. 



John Parkinson, the apothecary-gardener of London, 

 whose quaint work was published in 1629, is not so enthusi- 

 astic. He says of the wild strawberry : '' It may be eaten 

 or chewed in the mouth without any manner of offense ; it 

 is no great bearer, but those it doth beare are set at the 

 toppes of the stalks, close together, pleasant to behold, and 

 fit for a gentlewoman to wear on her arme, &c., as a raritie 

 instead of a flower." 



In England, the strawberry leaf is part of the insignia of 

 high rank, since it appears in the coronets of a duke, mar- 

 quis, and earl. " He aspires to the strawberry leaves " is a 

 well-known phrase abroad, and the idea occurs several times 

 in the novels of Disraeli, the present British Premier. 

 Thackeray, in his "Book of Snobs," writes : "The straw- 

 berry leaves on her chariot panels are engraved on her lady- 

 ship's heart." 



After all, perhaps it is not strange that the Alpine species 

 should be allied to some dark memories, for it was the only 

 kind kno^vn when the age was darkened by passion and 

 crime. 



The one other allusion to the strawberry in Shakspeare 

 is peculiarly appropriate to the species under consideration. 

 In the play of Henry V., an earlier Bishop of Ely says : — 



" The strawberry grows underneath the nettle. 

 And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best 

 Neighbored by fruit of baser quality." 



And this, probably, is still true, for the Alpine and Wood 

 strawberries tend to reproduce themselves with -such unvary- 

 ing exactness that cultivation makes but little difference. 



All these allusions apply to the F. vesca or Alpine spe- 



